There was a real, honest-to-goodness baseball story in the Bronx on Wednesday, and ironically enough it came with an asterisk, the same sort of marking that some want to put next to the record-breaking numbers of those who played in the so-called steroid era. Except unlike those who sullied baseball's statistical pool, there is little doubt over the authenticity of Ichiro Suzuki's achievement: 4,000 professional hits over a 21-year career.

It's just that some (1,278) of those hits came in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball and some (2,722) were struck in Major League Baseball. So in this case, an asterisk makes perfect sense as a descriptive marking that serves simply as an explanation, and one that takes nothing away anything from Ichiro.

The Yankees outfielder looked exactly like himself against the Blue Jays, using that patented swing to drive an RA Dickey pitch into left field and become just the third player in history to reach the 4,000-hit milestone, Ty Cobb and Pete Rose being the others. His Yankees team-mates rushed out of the dugout to salute one of the more unique talents of his era, who then waved his cap to the cheering crowd, revealing hair far more grey than when he came to North America as an unknown quantity in 2001. Then, according to long-time broadcaster Gary Thorne:

I don't think many people around baseball had any idea what Ichiro was going to be as a player. They knew his numbers, and the gold glove awards and batting titles and everything that he had done in the Japanese league, but there was a big question mark because there is still a big question mark over here about comparing Major League Baseball players in the US and comparing Major League Baseball players from other countries, simply because we they don't see one another that often. So I think it was difficult for fans to know and for players to know, and it was a matter for him coming and having to prove himself.

That was Thorne speaking to me way back in the winter of 2001, by the way, after Ichiro won the American League Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player Award. Thorne also said:

Go to the very top of the pile, and to go to the Ty Cobb kind of numbers in a season. When you start making comparisons number by number, that's where you end up. Well, for somebody in their first major league season to be compared to a Ty Cobb is pretty amazing.

Thirteen seasons later, he's up there with the Detroit legend, just 189 hits behind Cobb and 256 behind the all-time hit king, Pete Rose – albeit with the asterisk. He also owns the single-season hit record, 262, which he picked up in 2004.

Full disclosure – I've been an an enormous Ichiro fan from the start, back when he walked off the plane, all of 5ft 9in and 190lb of him, when I had no idea how the first Japanese position player to play in MLB would perform. Over the years I would write emails at random times, charting his hitting prowess for no reason whatsoever other than fueling my fascination for his unique career. Here is the most recent Ichiro email, written during the 2011 season:

Stat – Ichiro has missed 32 games in 10 seasons in Seattle. That is pretty damn good.

He has 2,244 MLB hits, averaging 1.4 hits per game. With the Orix Blue Wave in Japan, he averaged 1.3 hits per game, and had 1,278 career NPB hits. Keep in mind that the Japanese play 20-odd games a season less than MLB does.

So, Ichiro has 3,522 total career hits, if you combine his stats from NPB with MLB – a career average of 1.37 hits per game through 18 career seasons. That means, if those Japanese hits were MLB hits (and yes, I know they are not), he would be just 734 short of Rose, who has 4,256.

There is only a small chance that Ichiro would not have been the all-time hit king if he played out his career in MLB.

That never happened – Ichiro finally slowed down. The 2011 season marked the end of a 10-season streak of 200-plus base hits. Now he's hitting 46 points below his career batting average. The end of his career, which started with many questions, is drawing near. Now the only one left is whether or not he can hang on to pass Cobb and Rose, and hit the 3,000 Major League hits milestone in the process.

Puig is better late than never

Even when Yasiel Puig is wrong he makes things right almost instantaneously – such is the charmed life of the Cuban wunderkind who is blowing the minds of baseball fans daily. The Dodgers, mired in a two-game losing streak days after their run of 42 wins in 50 games came to a close, were bailed out by Puig, whose eighth-inning home run on Tuesday night tied the score at four during their game Miami – LA would go on to win 6-4. Thing is, Puig wasn't even supposed to be playing.

It may be hard to believe at this point but Puig was actually in the middle of a 3-24 slump heading into Tuesday's game, and so manager Don Mattingly gave him a day off. Then Puig walked in late, 35 minutes late to be precise, leading to a closed-door meeting with the 22-year-old, who was subsequently fined.

Hey kid, you can't be late, so I have to have this 'meeting' with you, but you and I both know that if it wasn't for your bat I'd be sipping margaritas by my pool in Indiana right now, so just be patient here and go through these motions with me, OK? Oh, and don't worry about that fine, I got it. Wink.

Puig has had meetings before, mostly about his suspect decision-making while running the bases, his missing the infield cut-off man on relay throws from the outfield, his arguing with umpires – yes, there are issues with the young man, and the Dodgers are intent on stamping them out before it gets out of control. Then again, you wouldn't want to take away too much of that raw aggression or remove much of that swagger, the kind of boundless energy that simply saved 2013 for Los Angeles. So perhaps they should think twice about altering his approach to the game too much.

Halladay, who is currently rehabbing from a shoulder surgery, told the Philadelphia Daily News on Tuesday:

From what I've seen, Ryne came in and made some changes and addressed some issues that I think were being overlooked. So from that standpoint, as much as I miss Charlie, I think that Ryne is going to do a good job, and I think he's going to bring back a little more of the Phillie baseball style than we've had the last couple of years. We really haven't had that whole team effort and that whole team hustle that I think we've had in the prior years.

Charlie Manuel walks away after being fired as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. Photograph: Chris Szagola/AP

That's probably true, and probably obvious, considering the team suffered through a 4-19 record in Manuel's final days as manager. Halladay clarified his remarks on Wednesday, but there was no need to throw any more dirt on the skipper who had the class to show up for a pre-scheduled autograph session after being fired. It should also be noted that Halladay's 2-4 record with a 8.65 ERA couldn't have helped much – awful numbers put up before going down just seven starts to the season. Perhaps Halladay should have mentioned that one reason the team has the worst staff ERA in the National League is because he's been on the sideline all season, but those comments were suspiciously missing from his statements.

Miggy battles on

We all know just how incredible José Miguel Cabrera Torres is as a player, but here's something that I didn't realize until recently – the Tigers third baseman has never been on the disabled list in his 11-year career. Add that to your list of things that are incredible about Detroit's franchise cornerstone, the reigning American League Most Valuable Player who is flirting with a second consecutive Triple Crown Award (for leading the league in homers, batting average and runs batted in).

The stat about his lack of time on the DL is particularly interesting because in 2013, in addition to the headlines he's made with his bat, we've heard an awful lot about the ailments he's been dealing with while powering through the season in top form – leading the AL with 161 hits, hitting 40 home runs while putting up an OPS of 1.133. Last week he fouled balls off his leg; prior to that he suffered through a lower abdominal strain and a sore hip. Now he's hurt himself again, this time while at-bat against the Twins on Tuesday – either in the groin or stomach area. Regardless, Cabrera, who has missed eight games since 1 July, was in the line-up on Wednesday, showing us first hand the hallmarks of a tough player who manages to navigate a long season without missing significant time in style – Miggy had a three-run double in the eighth inning to help Detroit beat the Twins 7-1.

The question is, could Cabrera use a break? His numbers and performances say no, but there's still another 36 games for Detroit before the playoffs and the Tigers would certainly benefit from a more rested, healthier Cabrera. If I were manager Jim Leyland I would see this latest incident as a warning, and make sure my top man was as close to 100% as possible before heading into an October where only a World Series title will suffice.

This week in the A-Rod saga

New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez is promising all baseball all the time from here on in. Photograph: Kathy Willens/AP

Alex Rodriguez came out on Wednesday to let everyone know that he is all-baseball all-the time from here on in, and that he has told his legal team, <one that has been in the news constantly this week, to step out of the public eye.

That's behind us now and I've shut everything down. I think it's the most important thing for us now – out of respect to my team, my manager and my coaches. We're in the middle of a very important pennant race. We're playing pretty well right now and we want to keep the focus on the field. Publicly, I want everything to be 100% about baseball.

A-Rod has had a busy week, stemming from the larger than (baseball) life scandal involving himself, his New York Yankees team and Major League Baseball itself. The embattled third baseman was suspended in early August by MLB for 211 games, for his connection to a defunct wellness clinic, Biogenesis of America, which is suspected of providing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes. Rodriguez, who is allowed to play as his suspension is appealed, was thrown at intentionally on Sunday by Boston's Ryan Dempster (who was subsequently suspended for five games); watched his lawyer be ambushed on NBC's The Today Show on Monday; and also prepared to file a grievance via the players union against the Yankees, for the way they've handled his hip issues. For now there's silence, until there isn't – which won't be long, judging by the way Major League Baseball, the Yanks and team A-Rod have continuously leaked information throughout this painful process.

New York have a tradition of succeeding in dark times – the famed Bronx Zoo teams of the late 1970s seemingly bought controversy to the Yankees dugout almost daily, yet they won two World Series titles under wild circumstances. Now with the franchise and the (one-time) franchise player tangled in a legal battle, the Bronx Zoo is most definitely back.